This invention relates to a support for an instrument, particularly a percussion instrument or instruments such as drums or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a support apparatus which serves to support an instrument by means of clamp elements which clamp onto opposite sides of a formed surface of the instrument. The clamping action is such that the instrument is constrained against rotation with respect to a carrier frame on which the support apparatus is mounted.
As is known in the art, a carrier for a percussion instrument generally may take the form of a frame-like structure that is suspended from the shoulders of the user by hooks or straps. A portion of the carrier frame projects forwardly from the midriff region of the user and an instrument mount is affixed to the forwardly-projecting frame portion for securing an instrument thereto. Examples of various instrument carriers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,106,123 3,021,744 3,974,732 and 4,256,007, as well as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,422 of the inventor herein.
An instrument carrier preferably is of a design to provide maximum comfort for the user. Marching bands often are required to execute intricate and precisely time marching routines in the course of a show. In the case of a percussionist, the weight of the drums carried while executing such routines may be quite large, up to or in excess of 70 pounds, for example. In addition, the percussionist may often carry a number of drums and must play all of them at various times during the show.
Becuase of the extreme physical demands upon the marching percussionist, in addition to the demands of competent musicianship, improved structures for mounting and supporting drums to be carried by a marching percussionist have long been sought. The desirable qualities for such structures include not only minimum weight for comfort but also a degree of versatility and adaptability that will permit a minimum of different structural elements to support a variety of drum designs and drum configurations. In addition, it is considered desirable that the mounting hardware be compact and unobtrusive since the drum or drums alone may well be large and unwieldy without the additional weight and space requirements of large and complex mounting hardware systems.